


S'mores, Games, and a Campfire Confession

by whisperedmemories



Series: Summer Gladnis Week [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Bittersweet, Bonfires, Brief Mention of Prompto/Cindy, Canon Universe, Drinking, Idiots in Love, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Altissia (Final Fantasy XV), S'mores, Truth or Dare, roasting marshmallows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 22:27:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20265499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whisperedmemories/pseuds/whisperedmemories
Summary: Written for Day 2 of Summer Gladnis Week: "Bonfire with S'mores; Mischievous."The boys have one last night before they set out for Altissia. Amongst all the excitement, Ignis begins to realize that the crush he'd been harboring on Gladiolus may be more obvious than he had intended. But there was no way Gladio could possibly have similar feelings about him... right?





	S'mores, Games, and a Campfire Confession

“So, Iggy. What’s the first thing you’re going to do when we get to Altissia?” Prompto asked, his eyes bright and a grin on his face as he bit into the s’more he had just finished making. 

Ignis skewered his next marshmallow and held it over the campfire, watching the flames dance around almost as if he were in a trance as he pondered the question. Prompto had already asked all the others, but somehow Ignis hadn’t excepted that he’d be asked as well. 

The marshmallow caught, burned, as Ignis pulled it from the fire and blew it out. It was charred on one side, he’d left it a little too long, he noted, as he sandwiched the marshmallow between crackers and chocolate.

“I suppose… well…” he murmured, “I’ve heard wonderful things about the seafood dishes offered there. Perhaps I can track down some of the recipes for us to enjoy.”

“Hmm,” Prompto replied. He finished his s’more, and Ignis couldn’t help but feel that he’d said the wrong thing. Prompto continued: “So Gladio wants to,” he smirked, “_sightsee, _Noctis wants to check out the carnival, I want to take some pictures. But recipes aren’t really for you, are they? They’re for us. What do you want to do for _you_?” 

Prompto had a point. He was interested in trying the dishes, but the cooking part of it was mainly for everyone else’s benefit. He fitted another marshmallow onto the skewer. “For myself,” he started, “I would quite like to take a ride on the gondolas." A pause. “I heard they give a wonderful view of the different parts of the city.”

Prompto drained the rest of his beer, his cheeks just a little flushed as he set the empty can down beside the others discarded around the campsite. They’d all had a few, some more than others, but Ignis suspected that he’d mainly be the one picking up after them tonight. 

“Ooh, yeah,” Prompto agreed. “I’ve never ridden a gondola.”

“None of us have,” Gladio told him. He glanced at Ignis through the flames. “But it sounds nice. I’d like to ride one, too.”

He was still staring. Ignis swallowed and looked away, busying himself by making another s’more. 

“So…” Noctis drawled. “What were we talking about again?”

“Altissia, dude!” Prompto chirped. “And with Altissia comes your wedding!” 

“Oh.” Now it was Noctis’ turn to look away. He rubbed his neck. “Yeah, I— that.”

“You aren’t excited?” Ignis asked, though he already had a feeling he knew the answer. “We’ve come all this way.”

“Yeah, yeah, and duty and all that. I just… I don’t know if I’m ready. Luna’s been working towards this her entire life, and I’ve just been…” he shrugged. “Living my life. Going to school. I can do fine on a test, but that doesn’t teach me how to navigate royal weddings and how to be a king and all that. It feels… I dunno. Surreal.” 

Gladio nodded. “Yeah, it ain’t every day you get married.”

Noctis groaned. 

Ignis passed him the bag of marshmallows. “Have another,” he suggested. “We’re supposed to enjoy tonight. I know things may seem strange, but I’m sure it’ll all work out. And you’ll have us every step of the way.”

“You got that right,” Prompto said, giving Noctis a thumbs-up. “We aren’t going anywhere, buddy.”

Noctis cracked a smile. “Thanks, guys.”

Ignis took a sip of his drink. He hadn't been keeping track of how many he'd had in between the s’mores and the excited chatter from Noctis and Prompto, but he felt the beginnings of a slight buzz thrumming through him.

“You know what? Since we’re having fun tonight and all, we should play a game,” Prompto suggested. “Maybe truth or dare?”

Gladio laughed. “Haven’t played that since I was a teenager.”

“So?” Prompto shot back, defensively. “It’s a party game, this is a party.”

“Some party with four people,” Noctis retorted, but his grin gave away his true interest in the game. 

Ignis wiped his hands on his napkin. It’s not that he wasn’t glad Noctis was willing to let loose and enjoy their last night before heading to Altissia, but they were probably all a bit tipsy, and he wasn’t particularly interestedin having his feelings toyed with tonight.

From across the campfire, Gladio was still watching him. He had an eyebrow quirked as he munched on his last bite of his s’more. He swallowed. “Whaddya say, Iggy? You in?”

“Please?” Chorused Prompto and Noctis. 

Ignis sighed. “All right,” he agreed. “But I exercise the right to bow out if things go too far.”

“Sure, sure, whatever,” Noctis waved off the comment as he playfully stuck out a tongue at Ignis, who coughed to cover a smile. “Who wants to go first?”

“I will,” Prompto straightened up in his chair, his eyes scanning the three of them as he mentally chose his target. “I’ll let you off easy for now, Igster. Noct— truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you…” Prompto started, glancing around the campfire, “to… put this picture in your notebook that you send to Luna. No context,” he said, reaching into his backpack and sorting through a handful of photos before passing one to Gladio, who laughed and handed it over to Noctis. 

Noctis scrunched up his face. “This is hideous,” he pressed a hand to his forehead. “When did you even take this? I look like a daemon!” 

Prompto dissolved in a fit of laughter, and Noctis summoned Umbra, sending the picture off with a grimace. 

“Fastest way to call off a wedding,” Gladio joked, slapping his knee. 

Noctis glared daggers at him. “You know what? I’m picking you, next. Truth or dare?”

Gladio went for a dare, as Ignis suspected he would, and howled with laughter before dropping to his knees and licking the ground while Noctis and Prompto grimaced. Ignis polished off his next drink and fumbled around with trying to get another marshmallow on his stick when he realized that all eyes were on him now. 

“Your turn,” Gladio was saying. “Truth or dare?” 

Watching him now, Ignis realized he never quite noticed how pretty Gladio’s eyes were. A rich, intense amber, and he _swore _he could see flecks of gold as they studied him through the flames.

But— oh, right. They were waiting for him. “Truth,” he managed to reply, glancing down as he noticed his marshmallow had caught on fire yet again. He raised it to his lips. Blew it out. 

Gladio was pouting. “No fun,” he said. “There’s no truth you could tell me that I don’t already know.”

_You’d be surprised_, Ignis thought to himself as he offered up an apologetic smile. “I’m afraid you gave me a choice. I chose truth.”

“What’s one thing you’d never tell anyone else?” Prompto asked, leaning forward in his chair. A bit too close, as far as Ignis was concerned, and he threw out a hand to gently push Prompto away from the campfire.

Ignis was sure his cheeks flushed bright pink.

“Hey,” Gladio cut in. “I’m the one askin’ the question. Wait your turn.” He turned to Ignis, studying him. “You ever kissed a guy?”

Ignis’ breath caught. He tried to breathe. Coughed. “Excuse me?”

“He had a crush on Nyx when I was like fifteen,” Noctis cut in, a mischievous grin on his face. “He pretended he didn’t but I could totally tell.”

“Did’ja now?” Gladio asked. 

Ignis averted his gaze. “It doesn’t matter. That was years ago. And to answer your question, no.” He turned his attention back to his s’mores. “Prompto. I believe it is your turn?”

“Dare him to call Cindy and confess his love to her,” Noctis snickered. 

Prompto blushed. “D-dude, not cool! I’m picking truth!” 

“You guys are shit at this game,” Gladio said, fitting an entire s’more in his mouth. “You have to wait your turn or it ruins the fun.”

Ignis hardly even remembered the question he asked Prompto, but from the collective groans it had probably had been a lame one anyway, his mind still lingering on Gladio’s question. Was he just asking to tease him? Or did he… know? Or more importantly, did Gladio feel the same way about him?

He shook his head, realizing how fuzzy and heavy he felt as he did so. The alcohol had probably been a bad idea. 

“Gladio,” Prompto said, “I dare you to kiss Ignis.”

Ignis dropped his s’more, the marshmallow and chocolate mess falling into his lap as he quickly snatched it back up and rubbed at the stain. Yes, the alcohol had _definitely _been a bad idea.

Ignis could feel the shift in the air as Gladio’s eyes seemed to bore into him. _Act calm_, he reminded himself. _It’s just a dare. It doesn’t mean anything. _He finally allowed himself a glance up at Gladio, and emboldened by the buzzing in his head and fluttering in his stomach, he quirked a smile. “Come over and get one, then,” he challenged. 

Gladio opened his mouth to speak and then raised an eyebrow at Noctis and Prompto. He pushed himself up out of the chair. “You know what,” he started, turning away from them. “Nah. I actually think I’m gonna call it quits for tonight. I’m stuffed and exhausted. Big day ahead of us and all that.”

Ignis’ heart dropped. He caught himself before allowing any hints of disappointment past his lips as he straightened in his chair. “Yes, I suppose that’s more than enough for this evening. We’ve all had more sweets and drink than we should have, and Noct— you need to be on top of your game for Altissia. We’d best get some rest.”

He got to his feet as well, as Gladio, Prompto, and Noctis shuffled around the campsite and got ready for bed amidst quiet groans of protest before retiring to the tent.

Gladio remained outside, putting out the fire while Ignis mechanically worked his way around, picking up empty cans and sealing up the bag of marshmallows, chocolate and crackers.

He could see a light emanating from the tent as he did so, but he couldn’t be fussed enough to chide Prompto and Noctis for being on their phones. His mind wouldn’t leave him alone. Gladio didn’t want to kiss him. Of course he didn’t. Gladio was… well, he was way out of Ignis’ league. There was no way he’d be interested in him, no way he would want to be with someone so stuffy, so involved in his duties…

“Ignis,” Gladio said.

Ignis didn’t allow his cool expression to slip. “Yes?” He asked. 

“Are you… fuck,” Gladio sighed heavily. “I’m sorry.”

Ignis blinked. “No, I should be the one to apologize. I… I don’t know what came over me. I shouldn’t have encouraged such dares. It was immature, and frankly,” he was cut off as Gladio stood and closed the distance between them, the rest of his words catching in his throat.

Gladio cupped his face, rubbing his cheek with the pad of his thumb. “That’s not what I’m sorry about. I…” he licked his lips. “Listen, if I’m reading this wrong, you can tell me off and I’ll drop the whole thing. But I,” he paused, and Ignis caught a flicker of anxiousness flit across Gladio’s face. “I didn’t call the game off because I didn’t want to kiss you. Because I— I do. Want to kiss you.”

Ignis’ eyes widened. “You do?”

Gladio took a deep breath. “Yeah. For a while. Just. Not, there. Not as a dare, with those guys watching. I want it to be because we want to.” 

Ignis smiled, gently. He dropped the bag of marshmallows he’d had in his hands as he leaned into Gladio’s hand. “I want to,” he breathed. 

Gladio grinned back at him. 

“I just have one request,” Ignis added.

Gladio’s eyebrows drew together. “What is it?”

“Tomorrow, if you still mean it, I’d like to kiss you again.”

“Oh, I mean it,” Gladio leaned in and Ignis closed the rest of the distance. He could taste the chocolate and sugar on Gladio’s lips as he pulled away and wrapped his arms around his neck. 

“Is that true, by the way? What Noct said about you crushing on Nyx?” 

Ignis snorted, playfully shoving him away. “That was over five years ago. I’ve moved on. To someone who, I daresay, returns my affections?”

Gladio kissed him again. “Completely.”

The two of them finished cleaning up the campsite and retired to the tent in significantly higher spirits. Prompto and Noctis had fallen asleep by the time Gladio zipped up the flap of the tent, stretching out on his back. 

Ignis tucked into his side, his fingers tracing light circles on Gladio’s chest as he was lulled to sleep by the sound of gentle breathing. 

The next morning, he got another kiss. He whistled to himself as he prepared breakfast, undeterred by Noctis’ complaints about vegetables as he passed around the plates and situated himself around the campfire.

Breakfast tasted even better than usual. “Are we ready to head out soon?” Ignis asked. “I’ve packed everything up. As soon as we take down the tent, we can be on our way.”

“Yeah,” Noctis mumbled, shoving his tomatoes to the opposite side of the plate. “You seem to be in a good mood, Specs, what gives?”

“I just have a lot to be grateful for,” Ignis replied, cheerily. “We have good quality ingredients, wonderful company, and we get to see the beautiful capital of Accordo.”

And thanks to last night, Ignis had come to the realization that his feelings were reciprocated. He’d have to talk it over with Gladio some more, but he was looking forward to what the future had to bring.

Ah, yes. Things were looking up. 


End file.
